Abstract
I investigate physical and emotional trauma and the concept of Post-Traumatic Growth by incorporating universal dichotomous themes such as life and loss; growth and destruction; beauty and darkness. Drawing upon events in my life, I create autoethnographic sculptures. My visual vocabulary is informed by observations of the natural world, including flora, and human anatomy. These images are integrated into my large-scale ceramic, hand-built, highly textural, biomorphic sculptures, with focal points of meticulous detail, that are hybridized forms of botanical and anatomical elements, which invoke transformational and transcendent growth. These forms are sometimes juxtaposed with metallic glazed liturgical objects, providing the opportunity for glints of light. Other times, they incorporate ash, the remnants of life lost, that provide the nutrients from which new life can grow.